He is of medium height (5'5") and well built (about 140 pounds), he has a very pleasing manner. He is naturally the fairest of blondes, but so thoroughly have the sun and the wind done their work that, were it not for his light moustache, his face would be taken for anything rather than a white man's. He is an Englishman by birth, and is about 29 years of age.
His attire consisted of a blue flannel shirt, brown knickerbockers, blue stockings, canvas shoes, and a once white military helmet hat. A notebook was strapped to the head of his machine. His clothing showed unmistakable signs of hard usage. His knickerbockers have been replaced many times.
The Boston Daily Globe, 05.08.1884
And so the bicycle part of the tour around the world, which was begun April 22, 1884, at San Francisco, California, ends December 17, 1886, at Yokohama. At this port I board the Pacific mail steamer City of Peking, which in seventeen days lands me in San Francisco. Of the enthusiastic reception accorded me by the San Francisco Bicycle Club, the Bay City Wheelmen, and by various clubs throughout the United States, the daily press of the time contains ample record. Here, I beg leave to hope that the courtesies then so warmly extended may find an echoing response in this long record of the adventures that had their beginning and ending at the Golden Gate.
Around the world on a bicycle, 1889